Mountain Chickadee

Mountain chickadees, Poecile gambeli, are one of the most common birds I hear in the nearby mountains. Their "chika-dee-dee-dee" and "fee-bee-bay" sounds often fill the trees near trails and ski lifts.  They are fairly common birds to see, too, although they sometimes hide themselves pretty well in the foliage.  This morning, one visited my backyard feeder.  I have seen them in town before, but today was the the first time I've seen one in the yard.

Birdweb.org explains the difference between mountain chickadees and black-capped chickadees:  Mountain chickadees "have distinctive white lines above each eye, slightly longer bills, and are grayer underneath than Black-capped Chickadees."   Black-capped chickadees can be found in this area, too, but I almost always see mountain chickadees instead, and mountain chickadees are much more likely to be at higher elevations.  

Mountain chickadee males, females and youngsters all share the same markings, but I've notice that some birds seem to be grayer while other are a bit more buffy.  I'm not sure if this has to do with sex, age, time of year or the possibility of these birds being different subspecies.

Mountain chickadees are sweet and cheerful little birds that are fun to watch flitting and hopping about.  Apparently, a flock of active chickadees can be known as a 'banditry'.  It is unclear whether this name is because they steal and cache food for the winter or because of their black robber eye masks.  Regardless, the designation is pretty cute. 

According to birdguide.com, "the scientific name gambeli honors William Gambel, a 19th-century ornithologist who died of typhoid fever in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at the age of 28."  Gambel first described mountain chickadees in 1841.  The site nwbackyardbirder.blogspot.com explains how mountain chickadees may one day be known as Gambel's Chickadee.  "There is a recent proposal before the A.O.U. (American Ornithologists' Union, Committee on Classification and Nomenclature) to split Mountain Chickadee, Poecile gambeli into two species.  The new species would tentatively be called Gambel's Chickadee Poecile gambeli and Bailey's Chickadee Poecile baileyae.  The proposed Gambel’s Chickadee is found in the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains....the proposed Bailey’s Chickadee is found in coastal California, Sierra Nevada, and the Cascades of Oregon and Washington."  There is some debate over whether the two varieties have slightly different markings and calls and may actually be distinct species.  So far the verdict is still out--pending genetic testing--and this split has not happened, so I can still call my mountain friends mountain chickadees.